Why You Have an Agent
An author I have come to . . . find . . . (what is the most gracious, most Buddhist way to put this?) unpleasant, because of her gossipy tendencies remarked--with her rather condescending manner--that my agent "doesn't have to do much," just sit and collect royalties on my books because it's a "given" I will get new contracts. Besides the fact this woman doesn't know me at all (honest! not at all), and besides the fact she couldn't POSSIBLY know all the details of my various deals, it's totally fallacious and pretty close to imbecilic.
In the last two weeks, this is a short list of SOME of the chaos of my writing career. You ready?
1) I agreed to a new three-book contract. He took the editor to lunch and they discussed it in detail and she embraced the concept I sent.
2) I discovered that my "cast-off" way of counting words (which is identical to my main editor's way) is NOT the method production is now using, and I am now, give or take, about 60 pages short in my new novel and need to re-insert a gruesome scene I previously cut for space, but now will put back in, thus entailing rewriting the back third of the book. My agent got the panicked call on Wednesday and tracked me down at the beach and conveyed this and that and the other until it was straight in my mind and my editor's.
3) Manuscript in point #2? Lost by overnight carrier on the way to my house with all the edits from NYC. Yes, lost.
4) My television development deal contracts came. They are 50 pages, single-space, and numb my brain with their details. I think I actually signed over my firstborn child. And children 2, 3, and 4. I'll visit them in L.A. My agent assures me this isn't so and walks me through it.
5) Two points of contract in #4 need to be clarified. He is talking, via a producer, with the president of a division of a major studio so I can get approval on paragraph 20,000 or whatever it is of this enormous contract.
6) A check I was expecting didn't arrive and he had to track it down in royalties.
7) A contract I was expecting . . . yup, lost. In the system, not by a carrier, but phone calls nonetheless.
8) My new proposal (HOT!) needs work. He thinks I am crowding too many characters into the beginning two chapters. I quote my agent: "Go to the beach and when you come home pretend you never read this before and see if I'm not right." Guess what? Yeah. He is. I am fixing.
9) The Bombshell line folded. I have a book now that is at loose ends and we have to discuss what to do with it.
10) There are probably items 11 through 100 I am not even thinking of at this moment.
THIS is why you need an agent.
To that end, writers will give you all sorts of advice--big agency or small? Lawyer or former editor . . . that sort of thing. I am with a boutique agency--small. Doesn't even have a website because through referrals and his existing stable of writers, he more than has his hands full. He's got writers at William Morrow, St. Martin's, MIRA, Harlequin, Penguin, Pocket, and so on. You get the idea.
Also, while people will give you all sorts of advice, it's a personal thing, too. Who do you you respect? Who do you mesh with? I have to be honest . . . I found out recently an author I know is signed with a woman, an agent, that I think is so horrific, I would sincerely think it was a deal with Satan to work with her. Now . . . she is big. BIG! But is there a 666 behind her ears, near her plastic surgery scars? I think perhaps. Can she negotiate a great deal. Sure. She can also nearly derail them with her over-the-top pain-in-the-ass ludicrous demands. For me? Well, I have to look in the mirror each morning, and I have to say having Satan represent me isn't something I can live with. My career might have had a different trajectory with another agent--in fact, it certainly would have. I've been places where an agent or two have tried to lure me to much bigger places with offices in L.A. and NYC. But in the end, I have book deals, I have a wonderful rapport with my editors, I have a TV deal, and I am at peace. I can live with that. This is my LIFE. Not just a job.
You might want a shark. You might want "the big name." You might be right for a boutique agency. Or one that does a lot of film deals. Figure out what you're looking for. It shouldn't be "anyone with a pulse." But know that, yes, indeed, you need one. That list I gave you? This isn't an insane two weeks. It's pretty standard. So yes, he earns his percentage. And for that, I am most grateful.
In the last two weeks, this is a short list of SOME of the chaos of my writing career. You ready?
1) I agreed to a new three-book contract. He took the editor to lunch and they discussed it in detail and she embraced the concept I sent.
2) I discovered that my "cast-off" way of counting words (which is identical to my main editor's way) is NOT the method production is now using, and I am now, give or take, about 60 pages short in my new novel and need to re-insert a gruesome scene I previously cut for space, but now will put back in, thus entailing rewriting the back third of the book. My agent got the panicked call on Wednesday and tracked me down at the beach and conveyed this and that and the other until it was straight in my mind and my editor's.
3) Manuscript in point #2? Lost by overnight carrier on the way to my house with all the edits from NYC. Yes, lost.
4) My television development deal contracts came. They are 50 pages, single-space, and numb my brain with their details. I think I actually signed over my firstborn child. And children 2, 3, and 4. I'll visit them in L.A. My agent assures me this isn't so and walks me through it.
5) Two points of contract in #4 need to be clarified. He is talking, via a producer, with the president of a division of a major studio so I can get approval on paragraph 20,000 or whatever it is of this enormous contract.
6) A check I was expecting didn't arrive and he had to track it down in royalties.
7) A contract I was expecting . . . yup, lost. In the system, not by a carrier, but phone calls nonetheless.
8) My new proposal (HOT!) needs work. He thinks I am crowding too many characters into the beginning two chapters. I quote my agent: "Go to the beach and when you come home pretend you never read this before and see if I'm not right." Guess what? Yeah. He is. I am fixing.
9) The Bombshell line folded. I have a book now that is at loose ends and we have to discuss what to do with it.
10) There are probably items 11 through 100 I am not even thinking of at this moment.
THIS is why you need an agent.
To that end, writers will give you all sorts of advice--big agency or small? Lawyer or former editor . . . that sort of thing. I am with a boutique agency--small. Doesn't even have a website because through referrals and his existing stable of writers, he more than has his hands full. He's got writers at William Morrow, St. Martin's, MIRA, Harlequin, Penguin, Pocket, and so on. You get the idea.
Also, while people will give you all sorts of advice, it's a personal thing, too. Who do you you respect? Who do you mesh with? I have to be honest . . . I found out recently an author I know is signed with a woman, an agent, that I think is so horrific, I would sincerely think it was a deal with Satan to work with her. Now . . . she is big. BIG! But is there a 666 behind her ears, near her plastic surgery scars? I think perhaps. Can she negotiate a great deal. Sure. She can also nearly derail them with her over-the-top pain-in-the-ass ludicrous demands. For me? Well, I have to look in the mirror each morning, and I have to say having Satan represent me isn't something I can live with. My career might have had a different trajectory with another agent--in fact, it certainly would have. I've been places where an agent or two have tried to lure me to much bigger places with offices in L.A. and NYC. But in the end, I have book deals, I have a wonderful rapport with my editors, I have a TV deal, and I am at peace. I can live with that. This is my LIFE. Not just a job.
You might want a shark. You might want "the big name." You might be right for a boutique agency. Or one that does a lot of film deals. Figure out what you're looking for. It shouldn't be "anyone with a pulse." But know that, yes, indeed, you need one. That list I gave you? This isn't an insane two weeks. It's pretty standard. So yes, he earns his percentage. And for that, I am most grateful.
posted by Erica Orloff at 6:56 PM
7 Comments:
Erica try to get past this person. Who no doubt doesn't know crap. You are a great writer. Not long ago I was accused of agent worship.
Agents are very important. The contection between an agent and client is like a marriage. We both have parts to do.
Good luck with the changes.
You're so lucky to have found the right agent. I have now, but I did have a bad experience. And, the woman who thinks her agent doesn't do much...... she'd soon realise if she had to things for herself. People like that really piss me off... so arrogant.
la:
A marriage is a great way to describe it. Very, very true. A boutique place may be all wrong for one writer and great for someone like myself who needs a very hands-on agent. I write a lot of books, and I write for teens with my pen name . . . and that's a lot of balls to juggle.
Sara:
I know there are lots of bad stories out there--I KNOW authors who have been through horror tales. I think part of my reason for this post was to say that there are genuinely many facets to the relationship. Like la burton says above, it's like a marriage.
Glad you are happy with yours!
E
I guess I think of an agent more as a business partner than a spouse. I want someone who is in love with my writing (and not necessarily with me), and who is also aggressive enough to get me the best deal possible.
Most of all, I want my readers to feel like they got their money's worth. If we can keep the reader happy, everything else will fall in line. Reader happy=money to publisher=money to agent and author=author gets to keep doing what he loves=everybody happy.
I want everybody to be happy.
Jude:
Also a very apt relationship description. I think women tend to be more into the "bedside manner" or an agent. I don't want an incompetent agent just because he's touchy-feely, but I do want to have a rapport.
E
Another fantastic love letter to Jay. You're a dream client for a dream agent. You guys make a terrific team.
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